Forever More
by SilverConstellation
Summary: If there was ever another series for the next Spirit Animals book, then looking into my crystal ball, here are my predictions about it! Featuring our favorite couple, Reilin, they have a chance to be together forever! However, all of that could change thanks to Princess Song. In fact, she's not dead. She lives and will try to put an end to the young couple's happiness soon!
1. Not 'The End'

The dark, murky, and underwater world mocked Princess Song, as it obscured her view. Outraged at her devastating loss, Princess Song bit her lip so hard underwater, and only stopped when she saw a trail of scarlet blood stream out from her lip. Back home, her name had become a curse. She was no longer a princess, a successor to the throne. Her name now lied in history. She was recorded not for a victorious act in proving herself, but was met with defeat, especially after she plotted the murder of her father and framed the Greencloaks!

Her spirit animal, Seaspray, was dead. Song wrenched her head in despair. She did not want to believe it, but there it was— the truth. She could not sense Seaspray's presence at all. He had to be gone. She took handfuls of hair and yanked it.

"This day is all just a nightmare! This can't be real!" she told herself.

But there it was— the truth... it was just laughing at her, tormenting her emotions. Song stopped at that, "No," she thought, "I must control... no wasting my time with mourning! Those _nobodies_ destroyed my life. Revenge must strike back at them to make them bow to me. Last time, even if I'd personally thrown Rollan out the window, they still wouldn't bow to me! Of course... if I could just capture one of them with my power..."

Song's brain cackled at her, "What power, you, child!"

Song tried to screech, but bubbles just formed from her mouth. She lied to herself, "Luck just wrote them in as the "heroes"! That's why!" She smiled deviously to herself. Oh, of course... as those children were to discover those legends, they had forgotten... Song still had the Dragon's Eye. That was what kept her from drowning underwater. With this legendary charm... why, she still had a chance to take them down. Song cackled to herself, "Those so-called heroes may think that I'm dead. Oh, how terribly wrong they are."

With that, Song rose out of the water, and flung her long hair back. At last, she could gasp for pure oxygen... that was, pure oxygen from a filthy place. Song gaped at her surroundings. All around her, tall trees provided shade for a village. This dusty, untamed village, was nothing like her elegant palace. Song could see already that their marketplace was bustling with several inhabitants. Wild chimpanzees darted overhead of the dark-skinned villagers, while other creatures, such as orangutans were being hand-fed some fruits by the people. Song squinted and could see a campfire buffet measly amounts of gray smoke, as the villagers strode about with bundles in their arms. Song grimaced. this was nothing like the fireplace back in her marble palace, where servants tended tk the fires, as the flames buffeted trails of white, clean smoke.

The shouts of children abruptly ended Song's thoughts. Song stared with horror at these children's faces. Their grubby little faces had smiles on them, but their undignified games that consisted racing across the rugged terrain was beyond despicable! Song could see that their clothes were stained, torn, and patched in several places. Their hair became matted with bits of dirt and grass, as they rolled around with pleasure. Running alongside their parents or friends, these children were also barefoot! That was an unacceptable deed in the palace!

Song spat, "Peasants! None of them are even fit to serve royalty's needs."

As Song glowered at the filth of this place, she recalled that she had tainted her own hands, after she had murdered her own father, the emperor. And after all that planning— years of it— it had been ruined! Throughout the plan, no matter how much she had tried to perfect it with her best friend, Kana…

KANA!

Song seethed at the mere memory, "Oh, Kana, you- you... traitor! You failed to defend me, AND you let Meilin and her despicable boyfriend pass." Song could already see Meilin and her young boyfriend playing kissyface in her mind, before she shuddered, "Gross."

Song could feel the hear of her rage practically seep into her torn, silk clothing. This made the frigid water seem warmer, but Song wasn't paying attention to that! She menacingly thought, "All my hard work! All my treasures! My rightful future! They've all been taken away by my "best" friend! She manipulated me. Yes, she sided with that meddling girl, Meilin, thinking that the Greencloaks had a better chance of winning than I did! They'll pay dearly for this! They'll pay for it all!"

Song twiddled with her last treasure, the Dragon's Eye, in her hands, as she tried to think up of ideas by herself. She daydreamed about how she could punish them, as she let the ornament glow in her hands every time that she turned it around. What could she do with this treasure? She could send a tsunami and wipe out the Greencloak's precious, little castle, but that would give out the fact that she was still alive. Without Seaspray, her tsunami would take twice as long to make anyway. So what now?

A sadistic voice behind greeted Song. "Why hello there," he chuckled nastily. This made Song almost jump, especially when the boy behind her began to ask her questions. His hair had been tamed, unlike the rest of the people, as he wore a sneer on his face, as if that sneer had been carved on his face since the day that he was born. "What are you holding there?" he questioned, before he sarcastically admired, "Aww, what a cute toy you have there. Aren't you such a miserable kitty trying to get away from all this filth?"

"Oh…" Song sneered at his agreement in disliking this village. It felt delightful to have someone to plot with. Song looked up at this boy. She noticed that his skin was more tan than dark. He seemed to be around her age. She finally spoke after a while. She hissed blatantly, "I'm thinking about taking over the world. Sounds crazy, but are you with me, or against me?"

The boy cackled to Song's dismay, before he delighted her. He kneeled down upon the shore with an evil glint in his eyes, "Yes, it does sound crazy, but this is what I have been waiting for, for years... your majesty."

"Now here was someone fit to serve an empress," thought Empress Song then she whispered under her breath, "Watch out, Meilin, the world is about to crumble on you this time."


	2. Happily Ever After?

Zhong lacked a ruler. The greatest leaders of Zhong gathered in the massive courtroom, deciding upon the next emperor or empress. Generals, countesses, ministers, and ambassadors all mumbled to each others, as ink brushes rushed upon parchment. Banners flapped overhead from the breeze, as the banner representing Zhong stood still at the front of the room. The Great Beast, Jhi, had been imprinted upon that banner as she was Zhong's great symbol.

Finally, Ambassador Yang, who stood at the front of the room spoke, "Have we reached our final decision for who will be the next ruler of Zhong?"

All heads in the room nodded in response, before they stood up and smattered the grand hall with a thundering amount of applause.

"Yes, yes," continued Ambassador Yang, knowing that this vote would be unanimous. He turned to his crane, abd nodded him, "Only one stands out to be young enough, and brave enough to keep Zhong thriving. Send for the brothers, Li and Chan! I would like for them to be the messengers! The next ruler of Zhong shall rise!"

* * *

"AAAAAHHHH!" Meilin's shriek pierced the silence of Greenhaven hall. Passersbys throughout the breakfast hall attempted not to stare, as they pulled their agitated spirit animals away.

Rollan's bowl of porridge had spilled on his lap from Meilin's scream. Rollan's face changed from utter horror, to concern, before he put on that famous smirk and teased, "If you wanted to become an opera singer, at least tell me privately in my room and not practice it here." Rollan then shook raisins and puddles of oatmeal off of his hands. The glass bowl that contained the porridge was beyond repair now, as it had been shattered upon the stone floor.

Conor quickly grabbed some napkins nearby, before he attempted to handed some to Rollan. Together, they wiped up the mess upon the table and Rollan's clothes. Cleaning? Not really, for Rollan was just making the mess even worse by shoving the oatmeal this way and that way, rather than picking it up, or even worse, he would shove oatmeal towards his own clothes! Conor stopped him, before the food could land upon his clothes again.

Abeke had volunteered to grab Rollan another bowl of porridge, but seeing Uraza in distress from Meilin's shriek, she had to comfort Uraza first. Uraza finally began pacing the ground, making way for Abeke to get to the kitchens. Essix had even fallen out of the air at Meilin's supersonic scream. Stunned, Essix was on the floor now. She glared at Rollan and thought, "Where's my reassurance?" Rollan wagged a finger and taunted Essix, before he said, "Oh come here you, you deserve lots of care. After all, you are one of my best friends." Essix's talons clutched Rollan's shoulder even harder, as if it was to show her appreciation. As Essix then let herself be embraced by Rollan, before Rollan looked over Meilin's shoulder. He brushed a long strand of her hair aside, before he gently asked, "I don't want to pester you, but what does that letter say? I want you to be happy after all."

Meilin froze, and looked at Rollan, before she realized that her eyes were watery. She turned away in embarrassment, and attempted to wipe then away with her sleeve. Before she could wipe away her tears by herself, Rollan caught Meilin's hand and held it firmly. He put a finger to her cheek, before he guided Meilin's face, until she was facing towards him. Meilin couldn't make eye contact with him at that moment. "Now, don't you hide those pretty eyes from me," said Rollan, before he pulled out a handkerchief, and gently dabbed Meilin's face with it, drying the tears. Grateful, Meilin lifted her eyes to meet his eyes, brown and warm.

Rollan looked at Jhi, and gestured for her to come over here and give Meilin a great, big hug. Jhi just grunted though; she seemed to be saying, "No, _you_ , give her a hug!" Flustered, Rollan held Meilin's hands, before she buried her face into his shoulder. Tears started brimming in her eyes again. She trembled even more, fearing that they'll see a brave warrior tear up again. To her shock though, Rollan embraced her, and held her close. Shocked, Meilin stopped crying immediately, but began hiccuping.

How could she fix this mess? Meilin took deep breaths of air several times, causing Rollan gaze at her with worry. She couldn't hide it any longer, and because she trusted them, she would reveal what had been sent to her. Meilin held up a scroll and allowed her friends to see it. Meilin turned away unconfidently from the other Greencloaks to hide her expression mixed with doubt and fear. How could they expect her to rule? Rejection upon this would mean failure to give hope to Zhong, her homeland that desperately need her. If she accepted though, she could fail to be a proper leader and rule the people wisely.

Interrupting her thoughts, Abeke was clumsily carrying a tray laid with fresh bowls of porridge, and she dived and dodged the passerbys ungracefully. Conor looked over the scroll, "Um, can someone tell me what it says? I uh... can't read." Rollan laughed heartily, before he admitted, "Ya, I can't too. We've been living on the rugged terrain from streets to pastures! We don't live in libraries after all." Meilin snorted in amusement at that, just as Abeke came into view.

"Excuse me," she said,"I've lived on rugged terrain all my life, and _I_ know hastily set the tray down upon the table, and stared at the scroll with then. Seeing Abeke's eyes scan over the paper, Meilin knew that she could read. When she finished reading, Abeke bit back her lip and whimpered, "You're going to be the next empress? Wow, that's a great responsibility... but we're _so_ proud of you!"

Conor swiftly jumped up, and shook Meilin's hand several times with an excited tone, "Really?! Wow! What an honor! You'll be great for that position!"

"More that great," asserted Rollan, as he studied Meilin irked reaction. He sensed how she felt about this— unsure.

Meilin finally found her voice and whimpered, "Yes, I am the next empress!" The anxiety became too much for her to hide. Maybe she could do it, but there was no pretending like she was trained for this. She was meant to defend Zhong, not rule it all by herself. She threw her face into her hands in complete distress. Maybe she could give the position to Kana, but considering the fact that Kana was a traitor to both sides, she would not be trustworthy. She was too old anyway, alike every other known leader in Zhong. With such a short lifespan, their legacy surely would not last long. What could Meilin do?

After his eyes wandered off the official seal of Zhong stamped upon the envelope, Rollan's eyes met Meilin's. At last, Meilin whispered, "But I don't want to leave you guys."

Conor immediately leapt to his feet, "Who said that you were leaving us?! We're friends, and even though we may not be in the same place physically..."

"We'll always have each other in our minds," chipped in Abeke with an assuring smile.

"And our hearts," completed Rollan.

Meilin smiled a beautiful smile at last, before she took Rollan aside for a bit and cooed, "What? You want to be the emperor?"

Rollan's face flushed crimson, before Abeke shouted, "Ooo, I and Conor heard that!"

Stunned speechless, the young couple had nothing to say, before Essix started a play fight with the others. "How dare you interrupt them!" squawked Essix with her talons outstretched, before Uraza joined in. Essix squawked, and retreated, swooping out of a window. Uraza chased after Essix, before Conor also summoned Briggan and joined in.

After a hearty game of tag, Meilin was breathless, before she managed to catch Rollan behind a tree, but he managed to pin her to the ground and tag her back.

Meilin's smile grew after what seemed to be a long while. She was going to become empress of Zhong. It had to be for the best.

"I'll go and get Li and Chan," volunteered Abeke, seeing that they felt ready.

"I'm coming with you," agreed Conor, as he nuzzled Briggan.

"Set sail for Zhong!" called Abeke, as she ran down the pathway to the port, "We're headed for greatness!"


End file.
